Unlike Gonzaga, Middle Tennessee State likely needs to win their conference. The Blue Raiders went 27-4, 19-1 in the Sun Belt. Their problem is a lack of quality wins outside of beating suddenly fading Ole Miss and Central Florida. They lost by 21 at Florida, five at Akron, 15 at Belmont and six at Arkansas State.

They have won 16 straight games with 10 of those coming by 10 points or more. This is an intriguing team with Marcos Knight being the leading scorer and rebounder putting up 12.6 points per game. Balance is their game with six more players besides Knight scoring six points or more per contest.

The Red Wolves were the only ones to beat MTSU in conference this season. They are the two seed by virtue of taking the West division. They are led by the backcourt of Ed Townsel and Trey Finn who each score over 10 points per game. They have lost two in a row after winning four straight so they aren’t exactly entering the event on the best foot.

One of the best players in the conference is Augustine Rubit who plays for South Alabama. The Jaguars forward averages a double double with 18.9 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per contest. The Jags lost at home by four to the Blue Raiders and by 35 at their place.

North Texas was supposed to be an intriguing team with NBA level prospect Tony Mitchell. Problem is that Mitchell never lived up to the hype and is now the team’s second leading scorer behind Jordan Williams. If the Mean Green put it all together they could be a threat, but they lost by 26 combined in their two meetings with MTSU.

Easy pick here as MTSU is head and shoulders above the rest. They should take the championship and put any Selection Sunday worries to rest.